Ryan Cottom wins gold at the Southern Open Judo Championships
Ryan Cottom, who won gold
in the under-66kg 12-13 category
Dartford Judo Club’s Ryan Cottom
underlined his potential by winning a gold medal in the Southern
Open Championships at Crawley.
The Great Britain cadet player fought
impressively to reach the final of the under-66kg 12-13 year old
boys’ category and then made short work of his opponent to capture
the gold.
Cottom was one of four Dartford
juniors in action at Crawley and the club also picked up a bronze
medal through Shane Tyler in the under-73kg 14-17 category.
Tyler, 14, lost to a 17-year-old
opponent in the quarter-finals but he then performed well in the
repechage to earn a bronze medal fight.
It was a tight affair with even
scoring but Tyler produced a strong finish to come out on top.
Dartford’s youngest competitor in
action was Max Shorter in the under-50kg 10-11 section.
Shorter was up against the favourite
in his first round contest but only lost narrowly after incurring a
penalty for posture. But he then won his next two contests to set
up a bronze medal fight-off.
Shorter took an early lead with a yuko
score but his opponent hit back to win, leaving the Dartford
youngster in fifth place.
Christopher Ball was eliminated in the
under-38kg 12-13 category after losing his first two fights.
Wednesday, July 01 2009